| In coronavirus, the 'stable genius' confronts a 'brilliant enemy' Posted: 12 Apr 2020 11:05 AM PDT  President Trump tries to explain antibiotic resistance on the part of coronavirus, "a brilliant enemy."
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| Coronavirus may give President Trump a long-sought chance to privatize the Postal Service Posted: 12 Apr 2020 10:32 AM PDT  Amid a cash crunch threatening to put the postal service out of business, President Trump is being accused of blocking bipartisan efforts to fund the agency as part of an effort to privatize mail delivery.
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| U.S. Census will ramp up count June 1, results delayed four months due to coronavirus Posted: 13 Apr 2020 02:59 PM PDT  The Census Bureau, which stopped some of its work last month because of the new coronavirus, said on Monday that it planned to ramp up again beginning on June 1 but would need more time to complete the count. The Census Bureau, which is under the Commerce Department and counts all Americans every 10 years, suspended field collection in March but is planning to re-start on June 1, according to a statement from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Bureau Director Steven Dillingham.
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| Scientists are collecting blood samples from 10,000 healthy people to figure out how much the coronavirus has really spread in the US Posted: 13 Apr 2020 09:55 AM PDT  Researchers at the NIH will test people's blood to see if they might have had the coronavirus without even knowing it.
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| Tornadoes and storms hit US south as six killed in Mississippi Posted: 12 Apr 2020 04:31 PM PDT  Twister destroys hundreds of buildings in Louisiana while at least six die in Mississippi due to severe weatherA tornado strike destroyed homes and left a trail of devastation across large parts of the US south on Sunday, as forecasters warned that a powerful Easter storm could affect more than a dozen states and millions of people before the early hours of Monday. By Sunday evening, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency had confirmed at least six fatalities in the state from the severe weather. Mississippi governor Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency after saying several tornadoes had struck the state. In northern Louisiana, up to 300 homes and other buildings were damaged. Utility companies reported thousands of power outages. The storm provided a dilemma for public safety officials trying to find a balance between wanting people to stay in lockdown for the coronavirus pandemic and wanting them to leave their homes for shelter if conditions worsened.The American Meteorological Society, however, was unequivocal in its advice."Do not let the virus prevent you from seeking shelter in a tornado," it said in a statement. "If a public tornado shelter is your best available refuge from severe weather, take steps to ensure you follow CDC [federal] guidelines for physical distancing and disease prevention."Community shelters, the meteorological society said, should be a last resort.The Louisiana twister touched down in the city of Monroe at lunchtime, where officials posted to Twitter images of damage from a number of locations. Buildings and aircraft at the town's airport were destroyed and managers closed runways to all air traffic.> Due to weather conditions and debris removal from the runways, Mayor Jamie Mayo and Monroe Regional Airport Director Ron Phillips announce "all flights at the Monroe Regional Airport are cancelled until further notice." pic.twitter.com/Kw4zWNRtZT> > — City of Monroe, LA (@CityofMonroe) April 12, 2020There were reports of damage in Kingston, Louisiana, 120 miles to the east, while local media said at least two tornadoes touched down in central Texas.The National Weather Service (NWS) issued tornado watches and warnings for several states across the south, including Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama, as the storm continued to march east.Severe weather warnings including flood watches were in place for parts of Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, the Carolinas and as far north as Tennessee. In all, up to 20 states could see some effects, weather experts warned"Stay safe and weather alert – it is a dangerous day in Mississippi," Reeves said in a series of tweets. "Please take today's severe storms very seriously. Please take precautions to keep your family safe. We are working and watching closely. Stay safe."Meteorologists said up to 95 million people could be affected by the massive storm through Sunday night and into Monday, with hailstones the size of tennis balls possible in places."The severe weather threat currently over Mississippi will shift east into Alabama later this afternoon," the NWS storm prediction centre said in a bulletin issued at 2.45pm ET.The storm, it said, was "likely to strengthen further as it moves into Alabama", bringing more tornadoes, winds up to 70mph and heavy rains leading to flooding.In a live broadcast on Facebook on Sunday afternoon, the NWS office in Jackson, Mississippi, told residents in some areas to seek immediate shelter as it confirmed a tornado on the ground in the state. It was not immediately clear if that touchdown had caused any damage.Associated Press contributed to this report.
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| Widow of 25-year-old NHL player Colby Cave mourns his death in heartbreaking post Posted: 13 Apr 2020 05:02 AM PDT  "You are and will always be my person, my hero," Emily Cave wrote. Her husband, Edmonton Oilers player Colby Cave, died on Saturday.
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| Coronavirus could 'decimate' Latino wealth, hammered by the Great Recession Posted: 12 Apr 2020 02:22 PM PDT  The crisis has either erased or is threatening to erase Latinos' decade-long climb back to financial stability.
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| Michelle Obama initiative backs expanding vote-by-mail for 2020 Posted: 13 Apr 2020 09:30 AM PDT  An initiative co-chaired by Michelle Obama has announced support for expanding access to vote-by-mail during the coronavirus pandemic.
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| South Korea to ship coronavirus tests to US this week: report Posted: 13 Apr 2020 01:40 AM PDT  In contrast South Korea was once the hardest-hit country outside China, but appears to have brought its outbreak under control with a huge "trace, test and treat" strategy. It has tested more than half a million people in a process free to anyone referred by doctors or those who have links to a confirmed case. After a phone conversation with him last month, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Trump had asked for test kits.
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| Op-Ed: Biden's choice of running mate matters, but not for the reasons you may think Posted: 12 Apr 2020 03:01 AM PDT  Joe Biden's choice of a running mate will help voters envision what a Biden presidency would look like — and help them decide whether he deserves to be president.
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| New Delta Air Lines boarding procedures aimed at preventing spread of coronavirus Posted: 12 Apr 2020 11:38 AM PDT  The carrier boards flights from back to front. Passengers are asked to stay seated in the waiting area until their row is announced.
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| 'We're so slammed right now': Texas' abortion ban is sending women scrambling to clinics in other states during a pandemic Posted: 13 Apr 2020 08:08 AM PDT  Texas' suspension of most abortions during the novel coronavirus pandemic has reached the Supreme Court.
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| 'The way down is much slower than the way up': WHO announces 6 criteria countries need to meet before lifting lockdown restrictions Posted: 13 Apr 2020 09:30 AM PDT  During a press briefing April 13, the World Health Organization laid out six criteria countries should use as they consider lifting control measures.
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| 7 Great Online Learning Platforms to Develop New Skills Posted: 13 Apr 2020 01:31 PM PDT |
| Two men arrested for murder of Miami girl over Adidas Yeezy shoes Posted: 13 Apr 2020 10:30 AM PDT  The captain of her school dance team was murdered last week during a botched shoe robbery.
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| Starving, angry and cannibalistic: America's rats are getting desperate amid coronavirus pandemic Posted: 13 Apr 2020 04:14 AM PDT  "A new 'army' of rats come in, and whichever army has the strongest rats is going to conquer that area," said Bobby Corrigan, an urban rodentologist.
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| Asia virus latest: China infections rise, oil prices jump Posted: 13 Apr 2020 12:49 AM PDT  China reported 108 new virus cases, 98 of which were imported from overseas, its highest figure since early March. Oil prices rose in Asian trade after top producers agreed to massive output cuts, but gains were capped as doubts grew over whether the move was enough to stabilise coronavirus-ravaged energy markets. Asian stock markets mostly fell.
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| Trump against tests his power by declaring only he can re-open US from lockdown Posted: 13 Apr 2020 09:03 AM PDT  Donald Trump is declaring he – and only he – can give a lawful order opening the United States from its coronavirus lockdown. The claim, questioned by experts, amounts to a resumption of the impeached president pushing his office's powers in new ways since being acquitted by the Senate.Before the Covid-19 outbreak, Mr Trump's aides did not deny their boss felt newly confident with renewed swagger after the GOP-run Senate cleared him on House-approved charges of abusing his power and obstructing Congress. Those same aides said he felt more comfortable issuing pardons, delving into Justice Department matters, and taking other executive actions after coming to fully understand that Democrats lack the votes to use his most norms-busting actions to convict and remove him from office.
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| Not everyone is getting a $1,200 coronavirus stimulus check. Here's who will be left out. Posted: 13 Apr 2020 06:37 AM PDT  Millions of Americans will be left out when the Internal Revenue Service starts distributing $1,200 coronavirus stimulus checks next week.
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| Putin says Russia may need the army to help battle coronavirus Posted: 13 Apr 2020 12:57 AM PDT  President Vladimir Putin said on Monday Russia might need to call in the army to help tackle the coronavirus crisis and warned the contagion was getting worse after the number of confirmed cases rose by a record daily amount. Russia reported 2,558 new cases on Monday, bringing the overall nationwide tally to 18,328. Moscow, the worst-hit area, and several other regions have imposed a lockdown, ordering residents to stay at home except to buy food, seek urgent medical treatment, take out the rubbish, or go to work if absolutely necessary.
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| Scientists have found oil from the Deepwater Horizon blowout in fishes' livers and on the deep ocean floor Posted: 13 Apr 2020 05:16 AM PDT  Over the decade since the Deepwater Horizon spill, thousands of scientists have analyzed its impact on the Gulf of Mexico. The spill affected many different parts of the Gulf, from coastal marshes to the deep sea.At the Center for Integrated Modeling and Analysis of the Gulf Ecosystem, or C-IMAGE at the University of South Florida, marine scientists have been analyzing these effects since 2011. C-IMAGE has received funding from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative – a broad, independent research program initially funded by a US$500 million grant from BP, the company held principally responsible for the spill.Our findings and those of many other academic, government and industry researchers have filled two books. These works seek to quantify the past and future impacts of oil spills, and to help prevent such accidents from ever happening again. Here are some important findings on how the Deepwater Horizon disaster affected Gulf of Mexico ecosystems. Oil in fish and sedimentsBefore the spill, baseline data on oil contamination in fishes and sediments in the Gulf of Mexico did not exist. This kind of information is critical for assessing impacts from a spill and calculating how quickly the ecosystem can return to its previous, pre-spill state. Oil was already present in the Gulf from past spills and natural seeps, but the Deepwater Horizon was the largest accidental spill in the ocean anywhere in the world. C-IMAGE researchers developed the first comprehensive baseline of oil contamination in the Gulf's fishes and sediments, including all waters off the United States, Mexico and Cuba. Researchers spent almost 250 days at sea, sampling over 15,000 fishes and taking over 2,500 sediment cores. Repeated sampling from 2011 through 2018 of the region around the spill site has produced estimates of how quickly various species are able to overcome oil pollution; impacts on the health of various species, from microbes to whales; and how fast oil stranded on the bottom has become buried in sediments. Importantly, no fish yet sampled anywhere in the Gulf has been free of hydrocarbons – a telling sign of chronic and ongoing pollution in the Gulf. It is not known if similar findings would result from ecosystem-wide studies elsewhere because such surveys are rare.Many commercially important fish species were affected by the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Researchers found skin lesions on red snapper from the northern Gulf in the months after the spill, but the lesions became less frequent and severe by 2012. There is other evidence of ongoing and increasing exposures to hydrocarbons over time in economically and environmentally important species like golden tilefish, grouper and hake as well as red snapper. Increasing concentrations of hydrocarbons in liver tissues of some species, such as groupers, suggest these fish have experienced long-term exposure to oil. Chronic exposures have been associated with the decline of health indices in tilefish and grouper. To complement field studies, scientists created an oil exposure test facility at Florida's Mote Aquaculture Research Park to assess how contact with oil affected adult fishes. For example, southern flounder that were exposed to oiled sediments for 35 days showed evidence of oxidative stress, a cellular imbalance that can cause decreased fertility, increased cellular aging and premature death. Fishes that live in deeper waters, from depths of about 650 to 3,300 feet (200 to 1,000 meters) were also affected. These fish are especially important because they are a food source for larger commercially relevant fish, marine mammals and birds. Researchers found increased concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – chemicals that occur naturally in crude oil – in fish tissues after the spill. In 2015-2016, PAH levels were still higher than pre-spill levels. Evidence indicates that the main sources of this contamination are through fishes' diets and transfers from female fish to their eggs. Oil on the sea floorMuch of the oil released in the spill created huge slicks at the water's surface. But significant quantities of crude oil also were deposited at the bottom of the deep sea. It was carried there by marine snow – clumps of plankton, fecal pellets, biominerals and soil particles washed into the Gulf from land. In a process that occurs throughout the world's oceans, these particles sink through the water column, transporting large quantities of material to the sea floor. In the Gulf, they attached to oil droplets as they descended. During the spill, responders set parts of the massive surface slick on fire in an effort to prevent it from reaching beaches and marshes. Crude oil contains thousands of different carbon compounds that become more toxic after they are burned. Post-spill studies showed that these compounds can be trapped in marine snow, covering the seabed and harming organisms that live there.Researchers coined the term MOSSFA (marine oil snow sedimentation and flocculent accumulation) to describe this mechanism for deposition of significant oil on the seabed. Thanks to this research, MOSSFA has been incorporated into models that U.S. government agencies use for oil spill response. C-IMAGE researchers have also developed methods to predict the intensity of MOSSFA if a similar-sized oil spill occurs anywhere in the world.Post-spill studies found that levels of oil compounds on the seafloor in the area affected by the spill were two to three times higher than background levels elsewhere in the Gulf. Sediment cores taken from around the wellhead showed that the density of minute single-celled organisms called foraminifera, which are abundant throughout the world's oceans and are a food source for other fishes, squids and marine mammals, declined by 80% to 90% over 10 months following the event, and their species diversity declined by 30% to 40%.Oxygen levels in these sediments also decreased in the three years following the spill, degrading conditions for organisms living at the sea floor. As a result of changes like these, researchers project that it will take perhaps 50 to 100 years for the deep ocean ecosystem to recover. More transparency from the oil industryScientists are still assessing key questions about the Gulf's ecological health, such as how long it will take for deep ecosystems to recover and what the lasting impacts are of episodic pollution events on top of chronic exposure. But here are some steps that would make it easier to measure both chronic effects of oil pollution and impacts from large-scale spills. Today, the only discharge that offshore oil and gas producers are required to measure is from "produced water" – natural water that comes up from beneath the sea floor along with oil and gas. And they are only required to report its hydrocarbon concentrations, even though the water can contain metals and radioactive material. In our view, they should also be required to routinely monitor oil contaminants in water, sediments and marine life near each platform, just as wastewater treatment plants periodically gather data on what they are discharging. This would provide a baseline for analyzing impacts from future spills and for detecting leaks hidden from the surface. Researchers would also like to see more transparency in data sharing about the industry – including routine equipment failures, other discharges such as drilling muds and other operational details – and greater U.S. engagement with Mexico and Cuba on oil exploration and spill response. As oil and gas production moves into ever-deeper waters, the goal should be to respond faster, more effectively and with a better understanding of what's happening in real time.[You're smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation's authors and editors. You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * A decade after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, offshore drilling is still unsafe * Fish larvae float across national borders, binding the world's oceans in a single networkSteven Murawski receives funding from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Tampa Bay Estuary programSherryl Gilbert receives funding from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative and the Tampa Bay Estuary Program through the University of South Florida.
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| Black people account for 72% of COVID-19 deaths in Chicago while making up less than a third of city's population, mayor says Posted: 12 Apr 2020 11:56 AM PDT  "The answer that we believe is right is because of the underlying conditions that people of color, and particularly black folks, suffer from."
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| COVID-19 is 10 times more deadly than swine flu: WHO Posted: 13 Apr 2020 01:21 PM PDT  The novel coronavirus is 10 times more deadly than swine flu, which caused a global pandemic in 2009, the World Health Organization said Monday, stressing a vaccine would be necessary to fully halt transmission. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing from Geneva that the organisation was constantly learning about the new virus sweeping the globe, which has now killed nearly 115,000 people and infected over 1.8 million. "We know that COVID-19 spreads fast, and we know that it is deadly, 10 times deadlier than the 2009 flu pandemic," he said.
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| Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: Army officer hanged for murder of Bangladesh's founding president Posted: 12 Apr 2020 02:56 AM PDT  Abdul Majed spent 25 years on the run after he was found guilty of murdering Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
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| Child sex abuse in Pakistan's religious schools is endemic Posted: 12 Apr 2020 11:06 PM PDT  Muhimman proudly writes his name slowly, carefully, one letter at a time, grinning broadly as he finishes. Earlier this year, a cleric at the religious school he faithfully attended in the southern Punjab town of Pakpattan took him into a washroom and tried to rape him. Muhimman's aunt, Shazia, who wanted only her first name used, said she believes the abuse of young children is endemic in Pakistan's religious schools.
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| China's new tax incentives encourage wild animal exports Posted: 12 Apr 2020 07:51 AM PDT  Nobody is certain how the novel COVID-19 coronavirus first infected humans, but the most frequent theory points to a wet market in Wuhan, China, and, more specifically, to the wild animals sold in it. It's widely believed the virus originated in bats and possibly jumped to another host — some have pointed to the endangered pangolins, others believe it may have been snakes — in the market before leaping again to humans, sparking a pandemic.Regardless of the specific species, Beijing imposed a ban on the sale and consumption of wild animals, practices which were heavily criticized by animal rights activists long before the virus. But The Wall Street Journal reports a government document from March showed China set up tax incentives for the export of animal products including edible snakes and turtles, primate meat, beaver and civet (the animal believed to have transferred the SARS virus to humans in 2003) musk, and rhino horns, the trade of which varies legally around the globe.The wild animal exports make up a small percentage of the goods tied to the new incentives, but a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service found that encouraging the sale of such products, even if it's just a small amount, could "spread the risk" of future viral infections to the global market, possibly rendering the in-country ban ineffective in the long run. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.More stories from theweek.com Trump adviser Peter Navarro made a bad bet 60 Minutes didn't cover pandemic preparedness under Obama Trump might fire the one person in the White House who knows what he's doing Bats probably aren't more likely to spread viruses to humans than other animals, study suggests
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| Yearning for Obama? Ex-president could soon be back to bat for Biden Posted: 12 Apr 2020 12:00 AM PDT  Trump's handling of the coronavirus has meant Obama's absence is keenly felt – but an endorsement of his one-time running mate may be imminentMiss me now? Barack Obama's absence has probably never been felt so keenly by his millions of supporters.They feel sure the former US president would have taken a very different approach, and struck a very different tone, from Donald Trump in handling the once-in-a-century crisis of the coronavirus pandemic.But while for now Obama is hunkered down at home with few tools beyond Twitter, a return to the political stage could be imminent. With his former vice-president, Joe Biden, this week in effect confirmed as the Democratic candidate in this year's presidential election, Obama's endorsement is eagerly awaited."There's no doubt the majority of Americans are yearning for Barack Obama's leadership right now," said Moe Vela, a former senior adviser to Biden at the White House. "It's palpable. You can feel that around the country. He led us through the financial crisis, Ebola and several other crises. For eight years he stood at the podium and said, 'I take responsibility.' Now we have the antithesis of that."Obama inherited an epic trauma of his own, the 2008-09 financial meltdown, which, supporters claim, would have developed into a Great Depression but for the actions of his administration. He also had to deal with an outbreak of swine flu, which killed an estimated 12,469 Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Ebola in west Africa in 2014-16 raised further alarm but only 11 people were treated for the virus in the US. Obama's White House Ebola "czar", Ron Klain, is now a regular TV and podcast critic of Trump's disorganized response to the coronavirus. On Wednesday, Klain tweeted a video of Obama in 2014 warning of the need to be ready for the next pandemic.Obama's former national security adviser Susan Rice told the Washington Post that Trump's failures "cost tens of thousands of American lives".The ex-president himself, however, declines to speak out directly against his successor. But he has tweeted more frequently than usual: 33 posts in the past month, many of which offer advice on stopping the virus spread, pay tribute to healthcare and other essential workers or share inspiring stories.Democrats watching the catastrophe unfold can only imagine what might have been. Vela, who sat on the White House emergency preparedness and continuity of government working group, said: "I'm sure President Obama is champing at the bit. He knows what should be happening. That's why you hear such frustration in the voices of those who worked for him."> Can you ever remember Obama speaking gibberish?> > Larry SabatoObama's admirers say he was often at his best in the face of tragedy. He spoke movingly and wept after the killing of 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. Honoring nine African Americans shot dead at church in Charleston, South Carolina, the president burst into a rendition of Amazing Grace.Trump not been seen crying in public. His daily coronavirus taskforce briefings seldom dwell on the monumental loss of life and human tragedy at the heart of the pandemic. But he does constantly praise his administration's response – "I'm a cheerleader," he said this week – and his own TV ratings.Vela, a board director at TransparentBusiness, commented: "This is a man who hasn't expressed one iota of empathy or compassion to the people who have lost loved ones in this pandemic. He is obsessed with Obama, he blames everything on Obama, and it's obvious where it comes from: he can't even shine Barack Obama's shoes."The two presidents have always been polar opposites. Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, added: "Trump's narcissism is overpowering: everything is about him. Obama was a very controlled person. He would have given you the facts and nothing more. He would have been perfect for this."Remember the school shooting in Connecticut. Obama did cry, as any human being would after children were killed, but he was still able to speak carefully and in complete sentences. Trump's briefings are one-third true, one-third misleading and one-third complete gibberish. Can you ever remember Obama speaking gibberish?"Typically in national emergencies, presidents make contact with their predecessors. John F Kennedy briefed and consulted with Dwight Eisenhower during the Cuban missile crisis. All five living former presidents came together to raise funds for hurricane relief in 2017 . Trump, however, has made clear he has no intention of speaking to Obama about the virus because "I don't think I'm going to learn much".But he has frequently sought to blame Obama for the leaving the country unprepared, even though it was Trump who disbanded the national security council's pandemic preparedness unit. And this week, when Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out of the Democratic primary, he speculated on when Obama will endorse Biden."I don't know why President Obama hasn't supported Joe Biden a long time ago," Trump told reporters. "There is something he feels is wrong. I'm sure he's got to come out at some point because he certainly doesn't want to see me for four more years. We're not – we think a little bit differently."Few would disagree with that assertion. Trump is not alone in wondering why Obama has not already endorsed Biden. But it is not the first time: in 2015, Obama reportedly decided Hillary Clinton should be his successor and helped steer Biden away from running.Sabato said: "It's about time, whenever he does it. I know there were many people close to Joe Biden who were miffed but they didn't say anything because the last thing they wanted to do was to antagonize the Obamas."Obama kept his powder dry during a grueling primary contest that involved 28 candidates and may make Biden wait a while longer.Sabato added: "If Obama endorsed Biden now, it would disappear into the pandemic black hole. So why would he waste that card?"The endorsement would presumably come before the Democratic national convention in Milwaukee, which has been postponed from July to August because of the virus. If it does go ahead, Obama and his wife, Michelle, would have a crucial role to play in making Biden's case, especially to many younger voters who flocked to Sanders in the primary.David Litt, a former Obama speechwriter and author of the upcoming Democracy in One Book or Less, said: "Barack Obama is a very good person to introduce Joe Biden to younger voters. There's an old Bill Clinton saying: sometimes you need someone else to brag on you. Obama is the perfect person to brag on Biden. He can speak to Biden's abilities as a politician and is more trusted than anyone in the country right now."
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| U.S. sailor from coronavirus-hit aircraft carrier dies after contracting virus Posted: 13 Apr 2020 06:42 AM PDT  A U.S. Navy sailor died on Monday after contracting the coronavirus aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, whose captain was fired after warning his crew would die unnecessarily unless strong action was taken. The sailor, the first active-duty U.S. servicemember to die from coronavirus complications, was admitted to intensive care on April 9 after being found unresponsive in his quarters. The sailor had tested positive exactly two weeks ago on March 30, the Navy said.
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| A man who stayed in the same ICU as Boris Johnson said his experience there was 'absolutely horrible' Posted: 12 Apr 2020 12:29 PM PDT  London resident Dave Hunt told Sky News that he was placed on a ventilator and thought he would die.
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| Pope Francis says it might be 'time to consider a universal basic wage' in Easter letter Posted: 12 Apr 2020 10:41 AM PDT  "This may be the time to consider a universal basic wage which would acknowledge and dignify the noble, essential tasks you carry out," The Pope said.
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| 'Rice ATM' feeds Vietnam's most vulnerable population during virus lockdown Posted: 13 Apr 2020 09:55 AM PDT  A Vietnamese entrepreneur in Ho Chi Minh City has invented a 24/7 automatic dispensing machine providing free rice for people out of work following an ongoing nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
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| Tourists forced to write 'sorry' 500 times over India lockdown breach Posted: 12 Apr 2020 07:57 AM PDT  Ten foreigners who broke a coronavirus lockdown in an Indian town made famous by the Beatles, were forced to repent by writing "I am so sorry" -- 500 times, officials said Sunday. The nationwide lockdown was imposed near the end of March, with residents permitted to leave their homes only for essential services such as buying groceries and medicine. The travellers -- from Israel, Mexico, Australia and Austria -- were caught taking a walk in Rishikesh, where the Beatles sought spirituality at an Ashram in 1968.
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| As virus deaths rise, Sweden sticks to 'low-scale' lockdown Posted: 13 Apr 2020 12:37 AM PDT  The 63-year-old has become a household name in Sweden, appearing across the media and holding daily briefings outlining the progression of the outbreak with a precise, quiet demeanor. As countries across Europe have restricted the movement of their citizens, Sweden stands out for what Tegnell calls a "low-scale" approach that "is much more sustainable" over a longer period. President Donald Trump has suggested that a rising number of COVID-19 deaths indicate Sweden is paying a heavy price for embracing the idea of herd immunity — that is, letting many individuals get sick to build up immunity in the population.
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| China is reportedly giving 'extra scrutiny' to any research on the coronavirus' origins Posted: 13 Apr 2020 05:08 AM PDT  China is reportedly requiring academic research into the origin of the novel coronavirus to receive additional scrutiny and approval by the government.Academic papers on COVID-19 under a new policy from China "will be subject to extra vetting before being submitted for publication," and research on the virus' origins will "receive extra scrutiny and must be approved by central government officials," CNN reports.A directive from the Ministry of Education specifies that "academic papers about tracing the origin of the virus must be strictly and tightly managed." Papers must reportedly undergo vetting from a State Council task force after being sent to the Education Ministry. The novel coronavirus first emerged in Wuhan, and since then, CNN notes that some research into questions like when there was first human-to-human transmission of the virus have called the Chinese government's account into question. A Chinese diplomat recently pushed a conspiracy theory that the virus originated in the United States, and the U.S. intelligence community has reportedly concluded that China has underreported its number of coronavirus cases.One Chinese researcher who spoke to CNN characterized these restrictions as part of "a coordinated effort from [the] Chinese government to control [the] narrative, and paint it as if the outbreak did not originate in China," adding, "I don't think they will really tolerate any objective study to investigate the origination of this disease."More stories from theweek.com Trump adviser Peter Navarro made a bad bet 60 Minutes didn't cover pandemic preparedness under Obama Trump might fire the one person in the White House who knows what he's doing Bats probably aren't more likely to spread viruses to humans than other animals, study suggests
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| Alaska Dems says they received twice as many ballots than in 2016 Posted: 11 Apr 2020 07:47 PM PDT  Joe Biden is the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee after Sanders suspended his campaign earlier this week, although Sanders remained on the ballot in Alaska.
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| New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says 'the worst is over' but warns coronavirus infections could spike again if we are 'reckless' Posted: 13 Apr 2020 09:50 AM PDT  New York is expected to announce a plan in conjunction with neighboring states about how to reopen select parts of the economy as hospitalizations slow.
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| Israel closes off Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox areas to stem coronavirus spread Posted: 12 Apr 2020 07:08 AM PDT  Israel locked down mainly ultra-Orthodox Jewish areas of Jerusalem on Sunday to try to contain the spread of the coronavirus from the densely populated neighbourhoods where the infection rate is high. Residents of the restricted neighbourhoods in Jerusalem can still shop close to home for essentials. The neighbourhoods are home to large families living in close quarters.
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| An Indian TikToker who said to trust God over face masks is reportedly the first person in his district to test positive for COVID-19 Posted: 13 Apr 2020 11:30 AM PDT  Local reports say the man, aged 25, was the first person from the Sagar district to test positive for the coronavirus, and had his phone confiscated.
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| Doctor reunites with wife and new baby after work with coronavirus 'dirty team' Posted: 12 Apr 2020 06:47 AM PDT  "We are quite overwhelmed with all the parenting stuff, but I guess that's normal," Dr. Alfred Wong told NBC News.
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| Assange fathered two children while in embassy: report Posted: 12 Apr 2020 12:29 PM PDT 
**EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS PACKAGE IS BEING REFILED TO REPLACE THE FIRST SEVEN SECONDS OF VIDEO WITH A STILL PHOTOGRAPH TO CLARIFY THAT A FEMALE ATTORNEY MENTIONED IN THIS PIECE IS NOT FEATURED IN VIDEO.** WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange fathered two children with a lawyer representing him while he was sequestered in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, according to a British newspaper on Sunday. The mother of his children, 37-year-old South African lawyer Stella Morris, told The Mail on Sunday the couple have two sons, aged 1 and 2, both conceived while Assange was in the embassy and kept secret from media and intelligence agencies monitoring his activity. The paper said Morris has been engaged to Assange since 2017. Both of their children are British citizens. Assange watched the births on a video link, the paper said. Australian-born Assange was dragged out of the embassy last year after a seven-year standoff and is now jailed in Britain fighting extradition to the U.S. on computer hacking and espionage charges. His supporters say the U.S. case against him is political and he cannot receive a fair trial. Morris said she had chosen to speak out now because she was worried about his susceptibility to the coronavirus in jail. The paper quoted her as saying, "I love Julian deeply and I am looking forward to marrying him." She added, "I am now terrified I will not see him alive again."
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| Pakistan 'sleep walking' into virus disaster, says opposition leader Posted: 13 Apr 2020 06:53 AM PDT  Pakistan risks "sleep walking" into a coronavirus catastrophe where death tolls reach levels seen in the West and perilously under-resourced hospitals are pushed to the brink, an opposition leader told AFP on Monday. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of Pakistan's first female leader Benazir Bhutto, said the country's response to the pandemic so far had been characterised by federal foot-dragging over a comprehensive lockdown and an unwillingness to divert cash to the buckling health care system. Pakistan so far has recorded 93 deaths from a total of 5,230 cases, but experts worry the impoverished country of 215 million people -- many of whom live in cramped, multi-generational households -- is only at the start of the coronavirus curve.
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| AP PHOTOS: India's virus lockdown slows the usual bustle Posted: 13 Apr 2020 02:28 AM PDT  Big cities normally filled with dense crowds are wide open, with public spaces out of bounds. India, a bustling country of 1.3 billion people, has slowed to an uncharacteristic crawl, transforming ordinary scenes of daily life into a surreal landscape. The nation is now under what has been described as the world's biggest lockdown, aimed at keeping the coronavirus from spreading and overwhelming India's enfeebled health care system.
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| Former CDC director says coronavirus contact tracing will need 300,000 workers Posted: 13 Apr 2020 07:00 AM PDT  The hiring process has begun in some cities across the United States, including San Francisco and Boston, for a COVID-19 coronavirus contact tracing workforce, but there may be a long way to go until there's an adequate number of employees on board, Stat News reports.Contact tracing is the most logical next stop in the effort to quell the coronavirus pandemic, and it will take quite a few people to get it done, perhaps testing "the capacity of the existing public health system." Tom Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said it will require "an army of 300,000 people."Not everyone thinks such an extreme number is necessary, but the consensus is there needs to be a major increase. David Harvey, the executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors, said people trained in tracking down contacts of patients with sexually transmitted diseases would be immediately available to step into the role for coronavirus, as well. But he told Stat there's only about 1,600 people in the workforce these days, when 30,000 are needed for COVID-19.The good news is that people seem to be interested in the job. K.J. Seung, a senior health and policy adviser for tuberculosis at Boston-based nonprofit Partners in Health, has put out a call for hiring and training in the Boston area. So far, he said, his office has received more than 5,000 applications for 500 openings. Read more at Stat News.More stories from theweek.com Trump adviser Peter Navarro made a bad bet 60 Minutes didn't cover pandemic preparedness under Obama Trump might fire the one person in the White House who knows what he's doing Bats probably aren't more likely to spread viruses to humans than other animals, study suggests
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| Joe Biden wins Wisconsin primary Posted: 13 Apr 2020 05:35 PM PDT  The in-person primary was held Tuesday, one day before Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign.
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| Fact check: President Donald Trump vs. the World Health Organization Posted: 13 Apr 2020 12:00 AM PDT  Trump has accused the WHO of not moving quickly enough to sound the alarm over COVID-19 and of China-related transgressions. Is he right?
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| 'Everything's gone': Tornadoes rip U.S. South, kill at least 26 Posted: 13 Apr 2020 09:08 AM PDT  Nearly 51 million people from Florida to New England were in the path of the system, with National Weather Service forecasters warning of strong winds, torrential rain and possibly more tornadoes on Monday afternoon. The system had already spawned about 60 reported tornadoes that left a path of destruction from Texas to the Carolinas on Sunday and Monday, the weather service reported. Powerful winds in the upper atmosphere combined with a strong cold front to make the system particularly dangerous, said weather service meteorologist Aaron Tyburski.
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| Top US Navy official who resigned under pressure was reportedly angry at an aircraft-carrier crew's emotional send-off of the captain he had fired Posted: 12 Apr 2020 06:00 PM PDT  The carrier's captain was removed after his letter pleading for Navy leaders to help with a coronavirus outbreak was leaked to the press.
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